Label

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates generally to labeling, and particularly to retail shelf labels and methods of making the same. A sheet having a retail shelf label according to an embodiment includes a liner, a transparent face layer, and a cover layer having graphics printed thereon. Adhesive couples the face layer atop the liner, and adhesive couples the cover layer atop the face layer. Cut lines in the face and cover layers define a perimeter of the label, and a cut line in the cover layer separates the cover layer into two distinct portions respectively separable from the face layer. At least a portion of the adhesive coupled to the face layer inside the label perimeter releases from the liner to removably couple the label to a shelf edge.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims the benefit of pending U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/051,241, filed on May 7, 2008, andentitled “Label”, the entire contents of which are incorporated hereinby reference. This application is also related to and claims the benefitof pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/052,017, filed onMay 9, 2008, and entitled “Label”, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to labeling, and in particularto retail shelf labels and methods of making the same.

Printed labels comprise an important form of communication. Labels arecommonly used for conveying information in a wide range of applications.In the retail sector, for example, labels are commonly applied toproduct displays (i.e., “point-of-sale” displays) to identify objectsand to convey information about those objects to customers. Retailestablishments may employ various types of labels to communicate suchproduct information as pricing, product identification, etc.

In retail establishments, product information tends to be dynamic inthat product offerings and pricing undergo frequent changes.Point-of-sale product labeling is often changed by applying new labelsto shelves on which the products are displayed. Such shelf labeling is asignificant part of the labeling activity in retail commercialestablishments.

Labels and manufacturing methods set forth herein include novelimprovements to the prior art labels and manufacturing methods, as willbe evident from reviewing the description below and the accompanyingdrawings.

SUMMARY

A sheet having a retail shelf label according to an embodiment includesa liner, a transparent face layer, and a cover layer having graphicsprinted thereon. Adhesive couples the face layer atop the liner, andadhesive couples the cover layer atop the face layer. Cut lines in theface and cover layers define a perimeter of the label, and a cut line inthe cover layer separates the cover layer into two distinct portionsrespectively separable from the face layer. At least a portion of theadhesive coupled to the face layer inside the label perimeter releasesfrom the liner to removably couple the label to a shelf edge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a label according to an embodiment, withgraphics on the cover omitted.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the label of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the label of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the label of FIG. 1, the labelbeing coupled to a shelf according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the label of FIG. 1, the labelbeing coupled to a shelf according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 7A through 7D collectively show a diagram representing amanufacturing process for a sheet of the labels of FIG. 1, according toan embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a label according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the label of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a rear view of the label of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a label according to still anotherembodiment, with graphics on the cover omitted.

FIG. 12 is a rear view of the label of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a label according to yet another embodiment,with graphics on the cover omitted.

FIG. 14 is a rear view of the label of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 a front view of a label according to still yet anotherembodiment, with graphics on the cover omitted.

FIG. 16 is a rear view of the label of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a side view of the label of FIG. 15 before the face layer isseparated from the liner.

FIG. 18 is a front view of a label according to yet still anotherembodiment, with graphics on the cover omitted.

FIG. 19 is a rear view of the label of FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is a side view of the label of FIG. 18.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 6 show an embodiment of a new label 100. The label 100has front and rear sides 102 a, 102 b and includes a face layer 110, aliner 130, and a cover 150. The face layer 110 has outer and inner sides112 a, 112 b, upper and lower ends 114 a, 114 b, and opposed sides 116a, 116 b and may be constructed of vinyl and/or any other suitablematerial. While the ends and sides 114 a, 114 b, 116 a, 116 b of thepresentation face layer 110 are shown to collectively be generallyrectangular, non-rectangular configurations may alternately be defined.Material for face layer 110 may be chosen for transparency,printability, durability, and/or other properties that are required orsuitable for particular applications.

The face layer inner side 112 b includes an adhesive material 120 whichmay be used to couple the face layer 110 to the shelf edge 10 and whichmay couple the face layer 110 to the liner 130. The adhesive material120 may comprise any suitable pressure-sensitive, self-adhesivematerial, such as acrylic adhesive, which is releasable forrepositioning purposes and which leaves little or no residue. Acrylicadhesive has a further advantage of not being susceptible to meltingduring printing operations, such as in laser printers. In FIGS. 4 and 6,a corner of the face layer 110 is separated from the shelf 10 to showthe adhesive material 120.

An adhesive deadening agent 125 may extend over the adhesive material120 along the lower end 114 b of the face layer 110 and/or along aportion of each side 116 a, 116 b of the face layer 110 to neutralizethe adhesive material 120 in those areas. For example, as shown in FIG.3 and FIG. 5, the deadening agent 125 extends between the lower end 114b of the face layer 110 and the liner 130, between the side 116 a of theface layer 110 and the liner 130, and between the side 116 b of the facelayer 110 and the liner 130.

The deadening agent 125 may further extend between the face layer 110and the liner 130 (i.e., sandwiched between the face layer 110 and theliner 130) near the perimeter of the liner 130 so that tolerances forapplying the deadening agent 125 may be increased. However, if theadhesive 120 is used to couple the face layer 110 to the liner 130, itmay be preferable for the deadening agent 125 to not extend between theface layer 110 and the liner 130 to an extent that the face layer 110 isnot coupled to the liner 130. It may be undesirable for the deadeningagent 125 to extend between the face layer 110 and the liner 130 to anextent that allows the perimeter of the liner 130 to separate from theface layer 110 and allows the liner 130 and the face layer 110 to becomevisibly curled away from one another.

The cover 150 has outer and inner sides 152 a, 152 b, upper and lowerends 154 a, 154 b, and opposed sides 156 a, 156 b and may be constructedof paper and/or any other suitable material. The cover 150 may be cut(represented by cut line 155) to separate the cover 150 into twoportions 155 a, 155 b. While the ends and sides 154 a, 154 b, 156 a, 156b of the cover 150 are shown to collectively be generally rectangular,non-rectangular configurations may alternately be defined. In at leastone embodiment, the perimeter of the cover 150 generally corresponds tothe perimeter of the face layer 110. Material for cover 150 may bechosen for printability, durability, and/or other properties that arerequired or suitable for particular applications.

The cover inner side 152 b includes an adhesive material 170 which maybe used to couple the cover 150 to the face layer 110 (i.e., to the facelayer outer side 112 a). The adhesive material 170 may or may not be thesame as the adhesive 120 and may comprise any suitablepressure-sensitive, self-adhesive material, such as acrylic adhesive,which is releasable for repositioning purposes and which leaves littleor no residue. Acrylic adhesive has a further advantage of not beingsusceptible to melting during printing operations, such as in laserprinters.

The cover 150 may include graphics 140 viewable from the label frontside 102 a. The graphics 140 (FIGS. 4 and 6) may be printed on the cover150 using a laser printer, a dot matrix printer, or any otherappropriate method or device. Additionally, the face layer 110 mayinclude graphics. If the cover 150 is transparent, the graphics 140 onthe cover 150 and the graphics on the face layer 110 may be viewed whenthe cover 150 is attached to the face layer 110. If the cover 150 is nottransparent, the graphics on the face layer 110 may be viewed when thecover 150 (or a portion of the cover 150, e.g., portion 155 b) isseparated from the face layer 110.

By including the liner 130, graphics viewable from the label front side102 a may be at least partially created or accented by the liner 130 ifthe face layer 110 is transparent and viewable from the label front side102 a. In other words, if graphics are printed around certain indicia onthe face layer 110, the appearance of the graphics and/or the indiciamay be affected by the color of the liner 130. For example, if the facelayer 110 is clear (or substantially clear), and graphics are printed onthe face layer 110, the absence of print at the indicia allows theindicia to substantially be the color of the liner 130 (e.g., white).Further, the liner 130 may enhance the graphics by making the label 100less transparent from the front side 102 a. Transparency has been aproblem experienced in the prior art, in that certain colors havesometimes been difficult to read while prior art labels are in use. Inaddition, prior art transparent labels have been unable to effectivelyutilize certain colors (e.g., white). It should also be appreciated thatthe label 100 may incorporate an extra color than prior art transparentlabels without using an extra color of ink, which can provide asubstantial cost savings. It should further be understood that, in someembodiments, graphics may be printed on the liner 130 and visiblethrough the face layer 110.

If a transparent material is used for the face layer 110 and the facelayer 110 is viewable from the label front side 102 a, information onthe shelf edge 10 (e.g., a previous label having product or priceinformation) may be viewed while the label 100 is coupled to the shelfedge 10. This may be desirable, for example, to show a product'soriginal price if it is currently on sale, or to avoid having to print abarcode for the product on the label 100.

In use, the adhesive material 120 may be used to couple the face layer110 to the shelf 10. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cover 150 may remainattached to the face layer 110 and present the graphics 140. As shown inFIG. 6, the portion 155 a of the cover 150 may be removed from the facelayer 110, and a portion of the face layer 110 may be viewable from thelabel front side 102 a. If the face layer 110 is transparent, a previouslabel on the shelf 10 may be viewed, allowing a customer to easily makecomparisons between information on the label 100 and the previous label.This may also eliminate the need for a product's barcode or other staticdata to be printed on the label 100. Though not shown, the entire cover150 may be removed from the face layer 110. If the portion 155 a of thecover 150 is removed from the face layer 110, the portion 155 a may beused independently as a label (e.g., coupled to the shelf 10).

One manufacturing process 700 for a sheet 701 of the labels 100 is shownin FIG. 7A through FIG. 7D. At step 710, the adhesive 120 is applied tothe material 702 that forms the face layer 110, and the adhesive 170 isapplied to the material 703 that forms the cover 150. The adhesive 120may be applied to the face material 702 in any suitable manner at thesame facility where other manufacturing steps described herein areperformed, or the face material 702 may be purchased having the adhesive120 and coupled to the material 704 that forms the liner 130, and, toadd the deadening agent 125, the face material 702 may be separated fromthe liner material 704 as set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,579,585 and6,926,942, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.The process 700 proceeds from step 710 to step 720.

At step 720, the deadening agent 125 is applied to areas that correspondto the areas of the individual labels 100 having deadening agent 125 asdiscussed above. The process 700 proceeds from step 720 to step 730,where the face material 702 is coupled to the liner material 704 and thecover material 703 is coupled to the face material 702. The process 700proceeds from step 730 to step 740.

At step 740, the cover material 703 and the face material 702 may be cutthrough (represented by cut lines 742) to define the individual covers150 and face layers 110 for the individual labels 100; the covermaterial 703 may be cut through (represented by cut lines 743) to definethe two portions 155 a, 155 b of each individual label 100; the linermaterial 704 may be cut through (represented by cut lines 744) to definethe individual liners 130 for the individual labels 100; and the covermaterial 703, the face material 702, and the liner material 704 may beperforated (represented by perforation line 746) to allow the sheet 701to be separated into multiple portions.

If the face material 702, the cover material 703, and/or the linermaterial 704 are provided in rolls, the material(s) may be cut into thesheet 701. In at least one embodiment, no cut line 742 intersects oroverlaps a cut line 744. It should be understood that step 740 mayactually be accomplished in multiple steps, and that the order ofcutting and perforating is generally not critical. The process 700proceeds from step 740 to step 750.

At step 750, graphics 140 are printed on the cover material 703 using alaser printer, a dot matrix printer, or any other appropriate method ordevice. Step 750 may be performed before the sheet 701 is delivered tothe end user, or the end user may place the graphics 140 on the covermaterial 703. Because front and rear sides of the sheet 701 aregenerally planar and are each formed from a respective single sheet ofmaterial, the printing process may be more easily completed than whenprinting on other labels that have various materials that comprise thefront side or the rear side. It should be understood that step 750 maybe completed at various times in process 700, such as before step 710,for example. In addition, if graphics are to be printed on the facematerial 702, those graphics may be printed on the face material 702using a laser printer, a dot matrix printer, or any other appropriatemethod or device before step 730, for example.

In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10, a label 800is substantially similar to label 100, and similar elements arereferenced by the same reference numbers used in relation to label 100above. In label 800, deadening agent 125 is omitted.

In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, a label 1100 issubstantially similar to label 100, and similar elements are referencedby the same reference numbers used in relation to label 100 above. Inlabel 1100, the liner 130 extends closer to upper end 114 a of the facelayer 110, and the liner 130 is cut (represented by cut line 1102) toseparate the liner 130 into two portions 1104 a, 1104 b. Portion 1104 amay be of generally similar size or proportion as the liner 130 of label100, and portion 1104 b may generally correspond to the amount the liner130 is extended when compared to label 100.

In label 1100, the adhesive deadening agent 125 further extends over theadhesive material 120 along the upper end 114 a of the face layer 110,and more particularly, the deadening agent 125 extends between the upperend 114 a of the face layer 110 and the liner 130. The deadening agent125 also extends between the side 116 a of the face layer 110 and theportion 1104 b of the liner 130 and between the side 116 b of the facelayer 110 and the portion 1104 b of the liner 130.

In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, a label 1300 issubstantially similar to label 1100, and similar elements are referencedby the same reference numbers used in relation to label 1100 above. Inlabel 1300, deadening agent 125 is omitted.

In yet another embodiment, shown in FIG. 15, FIG. 16, and FIG. 17, alabel 1500 is substantially similar to label 100, and similar elementsare referenced by the same reference numbers used in relation to label100 above. In label 1500, the face layer 110 separates from the liner130 before use. In other words, no portion of the liner 130 sitsadjacent the face layer 110 when the face layer 110 is adhered to ashelf edge (contrast to FIG. 5, for example). A deadening agent 125extends from the lower end 114 b such that much of the face layer 110 isnot adherent when in use, as shown in FIG. 16, and the cut lines 744discussed above may be omitted. FIG. 17 shows the label 1500 while theface layer 110 is still coupled to the liner 130 (i.e., before the facelayer 110 is adhered to a shelf edge. While the adhesive 120 between theface layer 110 and the liner 130 is shown separated from the liner 130in FIG. 17, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that, inpractice, the adhesive 120 couples the face layer 110 to the liner 130.

In another embodiment, shown in FIG. 18, FIG. 19, and FIG. 20, a label1800 is substantially similar to label 1500, and similar elements arereferenced by the same reference numbers used in relation to label 1500above. In label 1800, portion 1802 of the liner 130 remains coupled tothe face layer 110 until separated immediately before use, when theadhesive 120 is exposed. Like in label 1500, the liner 130 is entirelyseparated from the face layer 110 while the label 1800 is coupled to ashelf edge.

Those skilled in the art appreciate that variations from the specifiedembodiments disclosed above are contemplated herein and that thedescribed embodiments are not limiting. The description should not berestricted to the above embodiments, but should be measured by thefollowing claims.

1. A sheet having a retail shelf label, comprising: a liner; a transparent face layer; a cover layer having graphics printed thereon; adhesive coupling the face layer atop the liner; adhesive coupling the cover layer atop the face layer; cut lines in the face and cover layers defining a perimeter of the label, the cut lines in the face layer and the cut lines in the cover layer sharing a common configuration such that the cut lines in the cover layer overlay the cut lines in the face layer; and a cut line in the cover layer extending from one point on the perimeter of the label to another point on the perimeter of the label and separating the cover layer into two distinct portions respectively separable from the face layer; wherein at least a portion of the adhesive coupled to the face layer inside the label perimeter releases from the liner to removably couple the label to a shelf edge.
 2. The sheet of claim 1, wherein the perimeter of the label consists of upper and lower ends and opposed sides.
 3. A sheet having a retail shelf label, comprising: a liner; a transparent face layer; a cover layer having graphics printed thereon; adhesive coupling the face layer atop the liner; adhesive coupling the cover layer atop the face layer; cut lines in the face and cover layers defining a perimeter of the label; and a cut line in the cover layer separating the cover layer into two distinct portions respectively separable from the face layer; wherein at least a portion of the adhesive coupled to the face layer inside the label perimeter releases from the liner to removably couple the label to a shelf edge; wherein the perimeter of the label consists of upper and lower ends and opposed sides; further comprising cut lines in the liner defining a removable liner area, the removable liner area having a perimeter that corresponds to or is inside the label perimeter; wherein the removable liner area remains coupled to the face layer inside the label perimeter when the label is separated at the label perimeter from a remainder of the face layer and a remainder of the liner.
 4. The sheet of claim 3, wherein the perimeter of the removable liner area is inset from the perimeter of the label such that the removable liner area is separated from the upper and lower ends and opposed sides.
 5. The sheet of claim 4, further comprising a deadening agent coupled to the adhesive between the removable liner area and the lower end and between the removable liner area and each respective opposed side such that the label is not adhering between the removable liner area and the lower end and between the removable liner area and each respective opposed side.
 6. The sheet of claim 5, further comprising a deadening agent coupled to the adhesive between the removable liner area and the upper end such that the label is not adhering between the removable liner area and the upper end.
 7. The sheet of claim 3, further comprising a cut line in the liner separating the removable liner area into two distinct portions respectively separable from the face layer.
 8. The sheet of claim 3, further comprising graphics printed on at least one of the face layer and the removable liner area. 